MSME NATIONAL SUMMIT and AWARDS 2021: ‘State governments should identify unique products in their respective districts'
The MSME NATIONAL SUMMIT AND AWARDS 2021 will be focusing on important sectors and their challenges to combat the COVID crisis, and find new growth opportunities
•Updated: August 11, 2021 16:21 pm
The hit of COVID was deep on the business. The difficulties of the industries also increased due to the lockdown. But in the midst of challenges, entrepreneurs used their experiences with strategy and took steps with restraint to give directions to their businesses in the time of this crisis.
This is the reason that after the first wave of the corona, some movement started in the market. Before the situation was back on track, the second wave of COVID added to the problems. At the same time, the MSME sector also faced tremendous problems.
See Zee Business Live TV Streaming Below:
MSMEs need handholding in difficult times. In such a situation, we are taking stock of various sectors through the MSME NATIONAL SUMMIT and AWARDS 2021, presenting partner is Amazon.in, laptop partner is Dell, and is co-powered by Pharmeasy, to brainstorm the challenges of the MSME sector and find new opportunities of growth. Similarly, through this, we will be honouring them for doing excellent work during the time of COVID.
In the opening program of the MSME National Summit and AWARDS 2021, all the current challenges related to auto components were discussed in detail. The next event was in the leather footwear sector.
In this series, we are going to talk about important things that are related to rural and urban areas. The handicrafts industry also has its own identity as a grand cultural heritage. While this sector is providing employment opportunities on a large scale, the handicrafts industry is also an important contributor in earning foreign exchange.
The eminent personalities participating in the program are from the handicrafts sector. Dr. Rakesh Kumar, Director General, Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH); Nand Kishore Chaudhary, CMD, Jaipur Rugs Group; Vipul Gupta, Director, Designco; and the event was moderated by Saurabh Manchanda, SME Editor, Zee Business.
In the webinar, while discussing the uncertainty prevailing in the challenging times of COVID, Dr. Rakesh Kumar said that the months of March and April passed in chaos after the lockdown was imposed in March last year. He said that there was a situation of doubt among the traders regarding the lockdown. In such a situation, keeping the business in mind, a strategy was prepared in April 2020.
Under this, with the help of technology, it was decided to update oneself according to the time. Through this platform, the entire handicraft industry was brought together and helped them on various aspects related to the business.
During the discussion, Kumar informed that various international platforms were tested to remove the vacuum between the buyer and seller. After this, work on virtual fairs was started.
On trying to connect rural artisans with global buyers through technology, NK Choudhary said that around 10 years back, we inspired our customers to interact directly with our weavers.
“We have also received a very good response to this initiative during these years. But, during corona, the long-standing meeting stopped. He told that in such a situation we took the help of social media. Through this, the work of connecting the customer and the weaver was resumed. At the same time, the company's website was designed in the best way so that the story of the craftsmen could be conveyed to the customers,” added Choudhary.
“Last two years have taught us a lot that we have experienced in the last one decade,” said Vipul Gupta, adding that as we step into the business with the synergy of technology in the wake of the COVID. It was extremely challenging to conduct business during the pandemic. So, we focused on adopting virtual methods. As a result, we worked on Augmented Reality (AR), Sustainable Business Models, and risk planning.
During the discussion, Gupta said that the COVID era gave him the impetus to use various technology platforms such as AR and virtual reality. He said that gradually by taking the services of designers, we started connecting the work of the artisan with the thinking of the designer. So that the designer can show his thinking to the customer. He said that after the heavy pressure of the first three months of last year, the business went ahead with the strategy and also registered a double-digit growth of about 15 per cent.
Elaborating on the capabilities of One District One Product, Kumar said that almost every district in our country manufactures one or the other product of craft, which is the USP of this country. Because of this, the products are unique in themselves. It can also be further increased.
He said that all the state governments should identify such products in their respective districts. With the help of entrepreneurs in this direction, they should be prepared by giving them facilities. Kumar also said that the Government of India and the state governments have plans to set up export hubs in these districts.